Tag Archives: australia

Great Barrier Reef in Gefahr: Australien gibt grünes Licht für Versenkung von Erdaushub

By Guest PostFebruary 4, 2014Environment, Natureabbot point, adani gruppe, annemarie kohl, australia, australien, chelonia mydas, das meeresreservat, deutschland, die umwelt, east coast, gefahr, great barrier reef, green turtle, Greenpeace, greenpeace queensland campaigner, greg hunt, kohle, kohle hafen, korallenriff, louise matthiesson, meeresexperte von greenpeace, michael roche, nicolai schaefer, oekosystem, sara westerhaus, thilo maack, versenkung von erdaushub, world heritage committee

Umweltschützer protestieren: An der australischen Nordostküste sollen rund drei Millionen Kubikmeter Meeresboden abgeladen werden. Die Entscheidung folgt auf einen Beschluss der australischen Regierung, die im Dezember den Ausbau eines Kohle-Hafens unweit des weltberühmten Korallenriffs genehmigt hatte. Der Erdaushub soll etwa drei Kilometer vor der Küste abgelagert werden. Umweltschützer reagieren empört, für Greenpeace ist es eine “Peinlichkeit von internationalem Ausmaß”.

Es geht um drei Millionen Tonnen Schlamm, die in das Meeresreservat gekippt werden sollen, das zum Unesco-Weltkulturerbe zählt. Laut der zuständigen Behörde sei nur ein Drittel des Naturparks – der etwa so groß ist wie Deutschland – streng geschützt. Die übrige Fläche dürfe daher für andere Zwecke verwendet werden. Der erweiterte Hafen soll der Erschließung von Kohle im Volumen von 28 Milliarden US-Dollar dienen. (more…)

Weltnaturerbe in Gefahr

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2014Natureannemarie kohl, australia, australian, biodiversitaet, chelonia mydas, der chinesische frachter, duengemittel, east coast, great barrier reef, green turtle, hafen abbot point, haie, industrielle ausbau, klimawandel, kohlehafen, marine conservation society, meeresschildkroeten, mega ports, nicolai schaefer, nordkueste australiens, oekosysteme der erde, pestizide, queensland, riff bewohner, rochen, shen neng, stephan lutter, typen von hartkorallen, uneco, wasserqualitaet, weltnaturerbe in gefahr

WWF-Report: Australien schützt das Great Barrier Riff nicht genug/ Verlust des Welterbetitels droht

Das weltberühmte Great Barrier Reef läuft Gefahr, seinen Status als Weltnaturerbe zu verlieren. Die Umweltschutzmaßnahmen der australischen Behörden sind trotz Vorwarnung des UNECO Welterbe-Komitees weiterhin unzureichend. Teile der Korallenriffe und angrenzender Lebensräume sind in schlechtem Zustand – mit fatalen Folgen für die Biodiversität und „Riff-Bewohner“ wie Haie, Rochen und Meeresschildkröten. Ein aktueller Report des WWF und der Australian Marine Conservation Society, präsentiert die Verfehlungen und mangelnden Fortschritte, das größte Korallenriff der Erde zu schützen. Demnach wurde keine der sieben UNESCO Empfehlungen erfüllt oder mit gutem Fortschritt umgesetzt, besondere Defizite gibt es bei Hafenausbau und Schiffahrt. Morgen läuft die Frist, binnen derer Australien ein besseres Umweltmanagement für das Riff nachweisen soll, aus. (more…)

Large Old Trees Grow Fastest, Storing More Carbon

By Guest PostJanuary 18, 2014Environmentadrian das, amount of co2, atmosphere, australia, carbon, generate, kings canyon, large old trees, nate stephenson, national park, panama, pinus monticola, sequester, store, subtropical, temperate region, tree species, tropical, U.S. Geological Survey, united kingdom, united states, western white pine

THREE RIVERS, Calif, — Trees do not slow in their growth rate as they get older and larger — instead, their growth keeps accelerating, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

“This finding contradicts the usual assumption that tree growth eventually declines as trees get older and bigger,” says Nate Stephenson, the study’s lead author and a forest ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “It also means that big, old trees are better at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere than has been commonly assumed.” (more…)

IBM Commits $1.2 Billion to Expand Global Cloud Footprint

By Guest PostJanuary 17, 2014Technologyann winblad, asia, australia, big data innovations, China, cloud centers, cloud clients, cloudant ceo, data, data security, derek schoettle, erich clementi, Europe, global cloud footprint, growth areas, hummer winblad, ibm, it operations, middle east, mobile applications, network, North America, saas solutions, softlayer, softlayer network, south america, standard data layer, venture capitalist investment, venture partners, Washington, watson on softlayer, web

Builds a Massive Network of Local Cloud Hubs for Businesses Worldwide with 40 Data Centers Across Five Continents

ARMONK, N.Y. – 17 Jan 2014: IBM today announced plans to commit over $1.2 billion to significantly expand its global cloud footprint. This investment includes a network of cloud centers designed to bring clients greater flexibility, transparency and control over how they manage their data, run their business and deploy their IT operations locally in the cloud.

This year IBM plans to deliver cloud services from 40 data centers worldwide in 15 countries and five continents globally, including North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. IBM will open 15 new centers worldwide adding to the existing global footprint of 13 global data centers from SoftLayer and 12 from IBM. Among the newest data centers to launch are China, Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, London, Japan, India, Canada, Mexico City and Dallas. With this announcement, IBM plans to have data centers in all major geographies and financial centers with plans to expand in the Middle East and Africa in 2015. (more…)

Future of Fashion Retail in Pop-ups

By Guest PostJanuary 15, 2014Economy, Small Businessalfie apparel, ampersander, asos, australia, australian centre, australian version, cbd railway stations, director, ebay, editor, emporium, fashion retail, fashion week, frequent adopters, future, high tea, highteawithmrswoo, jeremi joslin, kym ellery, lana guineay, lower budget, melbourne spring, mercedes benz, mrs woo, new zealand herald, Paris, pop culture geek, pop up boutique, pop up shop, pop up store, pop ups, retail studies, rue saint roch, sean sands, sharon freeman, social media, sydney based designer, topshop, tron legacy, with, worldwide phenomenon, zara

Reckoning with high rental fees, the onslaught of online shops and multinationals, brick-and-mortar fashion retailers are realising the perks of a pop-up shop.

Wait, pop-up what?

A pop-up is a store that takes up retail space temporarily (i.e. a few days to several months) as opposed to one taking on a year- or decades-long lease. The setup effectively frees the lessee from the constraints of a lengthy contract. (more…)

UCLA life scientists, colleagues differentiate microbial good and evil

By Guest PostJanuary 11, 2014Scienceacidic soils, agents of infection, ammonia, ann hirsch, annette angus, atmosphere, australia, b pseudomallei, bacteria, bacterial genus burkholderia, bioterrorist agent, burkholderia cepacia, burkholderia tuberum, caenorhabditis elegans, christina agapakis, climate change, evolutionary lineage, fertilize crops, microbial, nitrogen fixation, pathogenic strains, pathogens, paul yang, protein rich crops, southern hemisphere, stephanie fong, symbiotic burkholderia species, Thailand, ucla life scientists

To safely use bacteria in agriculture to help fertilize crops, it is vital to understand the difference between harmful and healthy strains. The bacterial genus Burkholderia, for example, includes dangerous disease-causing pathogens — one species has even been listed as a potential bioterrorist agent — but also many species that are safe and important for plant development.

Can the microbial good and evil be told apart? Yes, UCLA life scientists and an international team of researchers report Jan. 8 in the online journal PLOS ONE. (more…)

Social Media Helps Users Embrace Differences and Provide Support to One Another, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostJanuary 9, 2014Technologyafrica, asia, australia, Europe, Facebook, fan identification, google chat, holly willson holladay, hyunji lee, lady gaga, lady gaga followers, little monsters, melissa click, political system, skype, social media, statistics, tweets, Twitter, university of missouri, unusual behaviors, US, users, very positive thing

Lady Gaga enables followers to embrace their awkwardness while deepening the perceived relationship they feel they have with the celebrity

COLUMBIA, Mo. – According to recent statistics, more than 175 million tweets are sent daily, and 11 accounts are created every second on Twitter. One celebrity who boasts the highest amount of global subscribers is singer Lady Gaga who enjoys more than 40 million Twitter followers. Now, University of Missouri communication researchers have found that online social media gives users an outlet to embrace their differences and provide emotional support to others while deepening perceived relationships they feel they have with celebrities. (more…)

With Fewer Hard Frosts, Tropical Mangroves Push North

By Guest PostJanuary 4, 2014Environmentatlantic coast, australia, biodiversity, birds, brazil, climate change, coastal insects, daniel s gruner, evolutionary biology, florida, florida atlantic coast, landsat 5, mangrove forests, Mexico, miami, NASA, new zealand, palm beach county, peru, rising sea levels, salt marshes, temperature, tropical mangroves, university of maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Cold-sensitive mangrove forests have expanded dramatically along Florida’s Atlantic Coast as the frequency of killing frosts has declined, according to a new study based on 28 years of satellite data from the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md.

Between 1984 and 2011, the Florida Atlantic coast from the Miami area northward gained more than 3,000 acres (1,240 hectares) of mangroves. All the increase occurred north of Palm Beach County. Between Cape Canaveral National Seashore and Saint Augustine, mangroves doubled in area. Meanwhile between the study’s first five years and its last five years, nearby Daytona Beach recorded 1.4 fewer days per year when temperatures fell below 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius). The number of killing frosts in southern Florida was unchanged. (more…)